Method and apparatus for conveying strip material



R. v. RrrcHEY i july 1A, 1930.

METHOD AND A PPARATUS FOR CONVEYING STRIP MATERIAL 2 shets-sneee' 1Filed April 22, 1929 w mi.

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July 1, 1930. R. v. RlTcl-u-:Y 1,769,546

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING STRIP MATER'IAL Filed April 22, 19292 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Patented July 1, 1930 UNITED STATES Amoscou v. RITCHEY, or AKRON, onro,AssIGNoR 'ro THE B. neoonnrcn COMPANY,

oFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEw'YoB-K METHOD AND'ArPAR-Arus nonCONVEYING s'rmr Mari-rimini.l

Y Application mea April 22,

` i.: Y This invention relates to methods and apa strip or sheet ofunvulcanized rubber as,

A5M; in the extruding' machine.

the' sameis ycontinuously delivered froman extruding machine orcalender. Such strips or sheets usually have av relatively high rate oflongitudinal contraction during the first two or three minutes afterleaving the forming machine,and in the manufacture of innertubes fromsheet rubber delivered directly from the calender,it is Vpreferred prac-.tice 'to permit the sheet to contract before it yis severed intoindividual lengths and madeinto inner tubes. Continuous strips of stocki fortire treads usually are formed by extrusion, and upon issuing fromthe extruding machineare formed withv transverse wrinkles due to unequalpressures Y. on the stock with- Such strips` usually are initiallystretched or elongated to remove the wrinkles and then are permitted tocontract before being severed into individual tread slabs.

The chief objects of the-invention are to provide improved procedure andapparatus for conveying longitudinallyl contracting material;` torpermit the material` freely to contract as it is conveyed; and toexpedite and/'or4 retard the speed lof the feed of theV material inlocal Zones.` Other objects will be manifestgas the specificationproceeds.

In, general, the present embodimentof my invention comprises an endlessconveyor hav-k ing variable speeds in different regions ofv 'itsstructure and includes a pair of parallel ychains lto which are securedthe ends ofv transversely disposed, work-supporting bars or rods, Thevariability of the'conveyors rate of travel -is effected by the novelconstruction ofthe linksv comprising the respecf tive chains, whichlinks comprise cam means by which vadjacent links yare movedtoward oraway from each other .in local zones of theponveyor.: In theaccompanying draw- 'rality of links of an endless conveyor vcom- 1929.serial No. 356,909.,`

ings, I show VVKthe conveyor associated'iwith i a calender for forming acontinuous rubber sheety which may, for example, be used in themanufacture kof inner tubes, in which ysituationthe conveyor is requiredto travel at progressively diminishing/speed inV a local region of itsorbitV to permit free contraction lof the sheet material on thatportionofthe conveyor. l y s,

vOf f he accompanyingl drawings: Fig. 1a is a side elevation of the workreceiving end of apparatus embodying .my invention'in its preferredform, a part being broken away and a partbeing in section.

Fig. 1b is a side elevation of the work defl .livery endy of theapparatus shown in Fig. la.

Fig. 2 is a section on line22 ofFig. 1a

on a larger scale. y n

` Fig. Sis a detail side elevation of apluprising` my invention. Y

Referring tothe drawings, 1() is acalender ofthe three-rollvtypeprovided withrolls 11, 12, 13 adapted to form a continuous` sheet ofrubber 14 from a bank of unvulcanized rubber composition 15 fed into thebightA of rolls 11, l2. Positioned at the delivery lside of the calender10V is an endless conveyor,

generally designated 16, embodying my ini vent-ion, and 16a is anendless belt conveyor mounted above'the conveyor 16 at the` delivery endthereof, and adapted to remove the sheet-14: from the conveyor` 16before or rods 18,y 18 kconnecting corresponding links oftherespectivechains, said chains,

atthe-work-receiving end of the conveyor, being mounted upon respectivesprockets` f such as the sprocketv19Fig. la, Vand at the deliveryend oftheconveyor are mounted upon similarsprockets (not shown) .which aremounted upon the respective endfpor-y tions o fa drive-shaft 2Osuitably'journaled in a Vframework 21. The drive-shaft 12O is providedwith a sprocket 22 connected by a sprocket chain. 23 with `reductionsprOCkets currently varying'the relation of the apart to exposesubstantially all of both sides of the material to the atmosphere toexpedite the cooling of the material, and said crossrods are movedtoward each other at a rate and ratio corresponding tc the contractionofthe material so that said contraction is free and unrestrained.

It will be obvious that it desired the camplate 36 may be arranged tocause a moving apart of the cross-rods 18, and a plurality of cross-rodswill have sufficient friction with thematerial so as to impart alongitudinal tension thereto and actually stretch the material.

lThe invention may be modiiied within the scope of the appended claims,and I do not limit the claims wholly to the exact procedure or specificconstruction shown and described. e

I claim: v Y

l. The method of conveying strip material whichl comprises supportingthe strip at spaced apart points, feeding the strip longitudinally Whilemaintaining its established relation to the points of support, andconlatter to each other.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 in which responding links of therespective chains and operatively engaged with the cam portions ofadjacent links, means for driving the chains, and means for somanipulating the chain links as to effect relative vmovement of thework-supporting rods with relation toeach other.

8. Ink apparatus Jfor conveying strip mate` rial, the combination ofalpair .ofk parallel endless chains of which each link comprises whichthe link-manipulating cams are composed of eXible material, includingmeans for locally flexing said-cams.

Inwitness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of April,1929.

. ROSCOE V. RITCI-IEY.

the movement of the points of support with y rial, the combination of aplurality of spaced Y necting the corresponding links ofthe two y apartsupports for the material, means for moving said supports as a unitwhile maintaining their established relation to the material, to feedthe latter, and means for varying the relation of the supports to eachother as they are so moved.

4. In apparatus `for conveying vstrip material, the combination of anendless worksupporting conveyor comprising spacedapart work-supportingmembers, means fork driving the same, and means Jfor gradually varyingthe spacing of said work-supporting members by varying the length of agiven in which the spacing ofthe work-supportingl members is varied asdefined.

6. In apparatus for conveyingstrip material, the combination 'of a pairof parallel v endless chains, work-supporting means con'- chains, meansfor driving the chains, and

means for varying the spacing of successive chain-links as the chainsare driven.

7. In apparatus for conveying strip matel rial, the combination of apair of parallel i endless chains each link of which comprises aV cam,work-supporting rods ycpxonnecting cor-Y 5 a cam, work-supportingcross-rods connect- :7

